Newsflash

Our third home game in a row sees us welcome Berwick Rangers to Forthbank on Saturday for Kevin Rutkiewicz’s second game as Binos boss.

Team news: Striker Mark Stewart is out with a hamstring injury and on-loan Dundee goalkeeper Calum Ferrie is also sidelined. A number of others missed last week’s 1-0 defeat to Edinburgh City and manager Kevin Rutkiewicz will assess his squad ahead of the game. Alan Gow could feature as a trialist for the third and final time.

Opponents: Johnny Harvey recently took over as manager following the departure of Robbie Horn at the beginning of October. Like ourselves, the Borderers have lost eight of their 10 matches in League 2 this season, most recently 3-0 at home to Cowdenbeath. They are without the suspended trio of John Neill, Robert Wilson and Chris Hamilton, who were all sent off in that match.

Past meetings: Berwick won 1-0 at Shielfield on the opening day but we earned two victories at Forthbank last season – 4-0 in August and 2-0 in January. Berwick’s last win here was 3-1 in August 2015.

Ladbrokes League 2 leaders Edinburgh City notched up their 12th straight win as Kevin Rutkiewicz’s first game in charge of the Binos ended in a narrow defeat.

A 38th-minute goal from City skipper Craig Thomson made the difference on a chilly afternoon at Forthbank and keeps James McDonaugh’s men two points clear of Peterhead at the top of the table.

Darren Barr made only his second appearance of the season after a knee injury and took over the captaincy from Ross McGeachie. Former Livingston and Falkirk striker Dylan Mackin made his debut and Alan Gow featured for the second time as a trialist.

Last season’s top scorer Darren Smith made the bench but Lee Hamilton, Mark Stewart, Calum Ferrie and Kyle Banner were all ruled out through injury.

City, who ran out 3-1 winners when the teams met at Ainslie Park in August, included former Binos Blair Henderson, Andy Black and Scott Shepherd. They started well and Cammy Binnie was called into action after top scorer Henderson had an effort blocked.

Albion grew into the game and Danny Jardine was narrowly off target with a 20-yarder then Gow was just too high with a free-kick a couple of minutes later.

We were holding our own against a strong City side but fell behind towards the end of the half when Thomson’s header sneaked past Binnie, who looked to have it covered. It was a bad goal to lose but the Albion No 1 made two important stops before the break as the visitors chased a second.

Chances were scarce after the interval – Henderson came close for the capital club after great work by Graham Taylor while Mackin had a shot blocked at the other end. Binnie saved well from Shepherd and McDonaugh’s men closed the game out to make it five clean sheets in the last six matches with a strong team performance.

There was plenty of commitment from Stirling and positives to take for new manager Rutkiewicz and assistant Martin Hardie but we didn’t manage to trouble keeper Calum Antell too often as Edinburgh City won at Forthbank for the first time.

New manager Kevin Rutkiewicz will take charge for the first time when we face League 2 leaders Edinburgh City at Forthbank on Saturday.

Team news: Former Livingston striker Dylan Mackin could make his debut after signing a deal until January following his recent departure from Falkirk. Half a dozen players missed last week’s Scottish Cup defeat to Queen’s Park due to injury and a number are again likely to be sidelined.

Opponents: Edinburgh City are on a remarkable run of 11 straight wins in all competitions. James McDonaugh’s men have only dropped points to Elgin City this season and beat Civil Service Strollers in the Scottish Cup last week. City have the division’s top scorer in Blair Henderson – the former Stirling striker has scored nine goals in League 2 and 15 overall.

Kevin Rutkiewicz has taken time out from first-team preparations for tomorrow’s visit of League 2 leaders Edinburgh City to share with www.stirlingalbionfc.co.uk his hopes and ambitions for Stirling Albion.

The 38-year-old was unveiled as our new boss on Monday, with former Partick Thistle midfielder Martin Hardie set to join Kevin in the dug-out at Forthbank for the visit of the capital club.

In a 20-year senior career he played for, and captained, Aberdeen, St Johnstone, Dunfermline, Morton, East Fife and Annan, and gained a reputation as an imposing central defender.

Now Kevin is keen to galvanise the club and create a feel-good factor at Forthbank which will reconnect all facets to help the Reds climb the Ladbrokes League 2 table while producing football that will excite the support.

Kevin said: “First of all I would like to say a huge thanks to all those who have been in touch with me one way or another to wish me good luck. This is the culmination of 10 years of progression involving scouting, coaching and gaining my badges and I can’t wait for 3pm on Saturday. I thank the Stirling board for this exciting opportunity. To be fair, I’m buzzing!

“What is very important to me is that we create a real reconnection of everyone involved with this football club which culminates in producing a team that enjoys a passionate backing from the home support and produces the type of performance that merits that and makes the support proud to be wearing red and white.

“What I’ve been saying to the players is that we must all make sacrifices for each other to make this work. It is about a unity of purpose and effort. We have a fresh start right now, we look only forward and we must set our sights on the next match and the team above us in the league.”

The new Binos boss believes he may already have made his most important signing of the season with the arrival of Martin Hardie as his right-hand man: “I have played alongside, shared cars and attended coaching courses with Martin for almost 10 years and we’ve talked long and hard for long enough over the characteristics we believe are key to building a successful football team within the SPFL,” revealed Kevin.

“Martin is a strong character, a real winner and I believe his knowledge and nous will be invaluable to the cause of getting a winning Stirling Albion team out on the park. He was the man at the top of my list to assist me and I am absolutely delighted to have landed him.”

With Darren Barr still recovering from a knee knock and with Kevin having laced up earlier this year for Annan, the new Binos gaffer revealed he has not called time definitively on his playing career: “With Darren it’s vital we give him the time he needs to be the best he can be because a fully-fit Darren Barr will be a huge player for us both on the park and in the dressing room.

“But it may well be that I will re-register as a player to maximise cover. From a pragmatic point of view that would make sense and I did play for Annan against Montrose earlier this year and have maintained my conditioning.”

Turning his attention to the arrival of League 2 leaders Edinburgh City, Kevin was in no mood to play down the size of the challenge, but just as clearly it is one our new manager is desperate to embrace: “Edinburgh City deserve tremendous credit, they have come back this season and really grown as a club and are in some respects a breath of fresh air. They also represent a really tough test.

He continued: “But my challenge has been to prepare the team in a manner that will allow them to give the jersey everything and produce the best performance we are capable of as a Stirling Albion team. We are all in this together, unity is everything and really I can’t wait for the first whistle.”

The Club Executive Board is delighted to announce the appointment of Kevin Rutkiewicz as the new manager of Stirling Albion.

Kevin impressed the interviewing panel with his passion, energy and vision. Crucially, he also ticked our key criteria of management experience and knowledge of the Scottish game, particularly in and around the lower SPFL set-up.

Kevin has played a key role in his most recent successful position as assistant manager of Annan Athletic and we would wish to extend our sincere thanks to everyone at Annan for the efficient manner they have conducted communications over the past 24 hours to allow Kevin to leave his post with immediate effect to get started at Forthbank. Whilst disappointed to lose Kevin, he leaves Annan with their best wishes as he takes the next step in his management career.

The Trust Board were fully engaged in the recruitment process and have given their full backing to Kevin’s appointment.

We complete the first quarter of the Ladbrokes League 2 campaign against Cowdenbeath at Central Park on Saturday.

Interim manager Darren Barr will be assisted by Mark Stewart and Peter MacDonald following the departure of Dave Mackay and Frazer Wright in the wake of the 3-0 defeat at Albion Rovers.

Team news: Last season’s top scorer Darren Smith again misses out with a back problem and there are likely to be a number of other injury absentees, with Lee Hamilton, Darren Barr and Willie Robertson all having been sidelined of late.

Past meetings: The most recent meeting was a 2-2 draw at Forthbank at the end of March. We have won on our last four visits to Central Park – the last time was 2-1 in February when Peter MacDonald scored both our goals.

Opponents: Cowdenbeath lost 1-0 away to leaders Edinburgh City last weekend and drew 1-1 with Albion Rovers in their most recent home game. They are second bottom in the table, one point worse off than the Binos. Their only win so far was 4-0 against Berwick at Central Park on August 18. Blue Brazil boss Gary Bollan started with the following team last week: D McGurn, F Mullen, R Deas, J Pyper, D Marsh, K Miller, R Buchanan, G Fraser, B Smith, J Sheerin, D Cox.